By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writer msayles@afro.com JPMorgan Chase has opened its second virtual call center in Baltimore. In collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED), the firm hired 40 Baltimore residents as customer service specialists who will help Chase Bank customers over the phone with managing their financial accounts. The announcement builds […]
Author Archives: Megan Sayles AFRO Staff Writer
Megan Sayles is a business reporter for The Baltimore Afro-American paper. Before this, Sayles interned with Baltimore Magazine, where she wrote feature stories about the city’s residents, nonprofits and initiatives. Her love of music inspired her to be a writer. At a young age she realized it was not the melody that she was so infatuated with, but the lyrics that made up the song and connected with listeners. Sayles grew up in Pasadena, Maryland, and is a 2021 graduate of the University of Maryland, where for her senior capstone project she reported on how the coronavirus and inequality intersected in Baltimore. She also worked as a staff writer and copy editor for campus publications, including Stories Beneath the Shell and The Black Explosion. Sayles teamed up with a partner to report on how the pandemic had put many more responsibilities on the oldest child in families. The Associated Press and other news organizations picked up her story.
Posted inBaltimore News
Local officials and stakeholders unveil plans for Harborplace redevelopment
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The design for Harborplace’s transformation has been unveiled. MCB Real Estate managing partners, David Bramble and Peter Pinkard, joined Mayor Brandon Scott and Governor Wes Moore on Monday to release plans for a mixed-use development with outdoor spaces that can be used for living, gathering, playing, eating and […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Lidl supermarket coming to East Baltimore as part of Perkins-Somerset-Oldtown transformation
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The East Baltimore community is getting a new grocery store. Lidl is set to become an anchor tenant in the Perkins-Somerset-Oldtown (PSO) Transformation plan. PSO residents have long faced a dearth of walkable, healthy food sources, all the while being able to easily access liquor and corner stores. […]
Posted inBUSINESS
The business of self-care and how to budget for it
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Although reducing stress and promoting well-being go hand in hand for many, it’s easy to confuse the act of “self-soothing” with what is called “self-care.” The former is typically reactive and occurs when a person engages in an activity to provide instant relief for emotional, mental or physical […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Supporting employee well-being: A look into corporate wellness programs
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), an independent health care nonprofit, 54 percent of small companies and 85 percent of large companies offered health and wellness programs to their employees in 2022. The offered programs included smoking cessation, weight management and behavioral and lifestyle coaching. Many people […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Baltimore’s tourism institutions reveal plans for the future
By Megan SaylesAFRO Business Writermsayles@afro.com On Oct. 16, four leaders of Baltimore’s creative and cultural institutions gathered to share future plans for driving tourism and engaging city residents. The discussion took place during the Greater Baltimore Committee’s (GBC) transportation and economic opportunity summit and included executives from the Reginald F. Lewis Museum, National Aquarium, Maryland […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Maryland Office of Social Equity hosts informational event for aspiring cannabis entrepreneurs
By Megan Sayles AFRO Business Writermsayles@afro.com The Maryland Office of Social Equity (OSE) hosted an informational event on Oct. 16 in Prince George’s County to brief aspiring social equity applicants about the upcoming round of cannabis licensing. Since the legalization of adult-use cannabis, Maryland has become the first state in the country to exclusively earmark […]
Posted inLiving
The business of self-care and how to budget for it
By Megan SaylesAFRO Business Writermsayles@afro.com Although reducing stress and promoting well-being go hand in hand for many, it’s easy to confuse the act of “self-soothing” with what is called “self-care.” The former is typically reactive and occurs when a person engages in an activity to provide instant relief for emotional, mental or physical distress. The […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Harbor Bank forges branding deal with Morgan State football player
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com Morgan State University football player Elijah Williams recently landed a name, image and likeness (NIL) contract with The Harbor Bank of Maryland, a Black-owned bank based in Baltimore. The senior defensive lineman was most recently chosen for The Bluebloods 2023 FCS Preseason All-American Team and has a number […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Honoring the charitable and entrepreneurial legacy of Baltimore’s Haysbert family
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com The day before Reginald Haysbert Sr., president of The Forum Caterers, was fatally struck by a vehicle in Baltimore County on Sept. 6, the 75-year-old spent his morning at the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys. He was there to shake the students’ hands and welcome them on their […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
AT&T executive LaTara Harris leaves Corporate America to head Crittenton Services of Greater Washington
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com LaTara Harris, the former director of external and legislative affairs for AT&T in the Mid-Atlantic region, has returned to the nonprofit sector. Harris, who previously worked for the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education (MBRT), became the CEO and president of Crittenton Services of Greater Washington (Crittenton) on Oct. […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
JPMorgan Chase and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation invest $900,000 in Howard University School of Law
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com JPMorgan Chase and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) invested $900,000 in philanthropic capital on Oct. 3 to the Howard University (HU) School of Law to mitigate and resolve heirs property, or tangled title, cases. The investment will be used to establish the first-of-its-kind Estate Planning and Heirs […]